


The Dark Comes When I Say

by ForEliIsLost



Category: Heroes (TV 2006)
Genre: "you can be affectionate and abusive", :), AU, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, BTW, BTW this is centered on Mohinder and Peter's relationship, Background Matt/Mohinder, Background Petlar, Background Relationships, Demons, Ever - Freeform, M/M, Medium characters, Nathan fucks up, Nathan's a fucking dick, Peter was emotionally abused, Petrelli is in the plural, Sorry Not Sorry, Summoners AU, also, and I will not let it slide, and hurt by the Petrelli, anyway I'm procrastinating on college work, because italian names that end with an i are following the grammar rule from latin, but I'm very fervent about that, don't mind me, gaslighted, if u guys could stop saying "petrellis", in which a word ending with an i is in plural, manipulated, matt and sylar agree on something and it's kinda fucking heartbreaking, mohinder is oblivious to the fact that the petrelli are fucking abusive, not supposed to be shippy, peter needs hugs, petlar, so yk, spoiler - Freeform, summoners, sylar's a demon, what are tags, yay?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:14:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27319072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForEliIsLost/pseuds/ForEliIsLost
Summary: Summoner AU — basically there are summoners (people who can call and bid demons/beings of the other realm), mediums (mind-readers, telepaths, precogs etcetera), and Full-outs (people who do both, Sylar calls them the "True Medium/midterm").Through a horrible plan of Nathan's, Sylar (a demon) and Matt (a telepath) are trapped in the same body. Thus, it falls onto Peter and Mohinder to put up with their crap.
Relationships: Matt Parkman/Mohinder Suresh, Nathan Petrelli & Peter Petrelli, Peter Petrelli & Everyone, Peter Petrelli & Mohinder Suresh, Peter Petrelli/Sylar | Gabriel Gray
Kudos: 12





	The Dark Comes When I Say

**Author's Note:**

> So, for informational purposes:  
> Peter - full-out  
> Nathan - summoner  
> Angela - medium  
> Arthur - summoner  
> Mohinder - Summoner  
> Matt - summoner  
> Claire - full-out  
> Molly - full-out (she summoned Sylar by accident and he killed her parents, she lives with Matt/Mohinder now)  
> Hiro - summoner  
> Ando - demon (a trickster demon, he basically has to question himself who actually is the demon because he is the "responsible" one)  
> Daphne - trickster demon  
> Elle - demon  
> [Also, note that, in this AU, Sylar hasn't done as many bad things as he did in canon (he still did a lot of bad things because he's a demon, but situationally they're not as bad), and that the bad things Nathan has done take a deeper nuance — even tho he's done the same amount of effing up as in canon, the situations make it worse.]  
> (I'm tired, happy Halloween)

"How is he?" Mohinder jumped up at the voice. He turned around to find himself facing Peter and grimaced — he knew for a fact that he hadn't been there a minute ago.

Mohinder furrowed his eyebrows, "Peter?! How did you get in?" he asked. He turned back to his table, putting the book he was reading away.

"Technically, I didn't." Peter shrugged his shoulders, elaborating when Mohinder sent him a questioning look. "I'm astral projecting. Not really here." Mohinder nodded and Peter took a deep breath. "How are you holding up the fort?"

"I left Molly with Janice yesterday, so at least I don't have to worry about that..." Peter nodded, "Last night, Matt attempted to get drunk to see if that made Sylar disappear."

"Oh, god..." Peter put his hands over his face, sliding them up and carding them through his hair.

"Yeah..." Mohinder cocked his eyebrows for a second, pursing his lips. " _That_ didn't work out in his favor."

"How did he even reach that conclusion?"

"I'm pretty sure he was already drunk when he did. Which magnifies the level of stupidity of that decision because he shouldn't have been drinking in the first place." Mohinder sighed. "Sylar was a pain in the ass after that, but they've been sleeping for about three hours now."

Peter cringed, "Did they keep you up?"

"For a while, yes. But I managed to get some sleep, don't worry about that." Mohinder assured and Peter gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Are you on your break?"

"Yeah," Peter crossed his arms, sort of like he was hugging himself. "I should be done in three hours. So, if they sleep for more than six hours, I'll take it from you just as they wake up and you can rest."

"Here's to hoping."

*

Mohinder opened the door to see, as expected, Peter on the corridor. He was still wearing his paramedic uniform and carried a duffle bag — he was the same way he had arrived for the past days. "Reinforcement's here." He joked and Mohinder moved out of the way so that he could come in, closing the door after Peter entered the apartment. "How are we holding up?" He asked, putting his bag on a chair.

Mohinder sighed, "Thankfully, they're still sleeping." 

Peter nodded, "How bad was he?" he asked, sounding like he was tired — Mohinder knew he was.

"The usual."

Peter's expression lightened up a little, "Did you set up the baby-cam?" he said with a crooked smile.

It was Mohinder's turn to lighten up, "Oh, yes." he affirmed, sounding delighted.

"I can't wait until they realize."

*

Sylar woke up to Peter sitting beside his bed and reading a book. He smirked to himself as he blinked the sleep off Matt's eyes.

He put on a confused façade, "Peter?" he asked.

Peter looked up at him, marking the page he was reading and closing the book, yet still holding it in his hands. "Sylar?" He asked for confirmation.

Sylar shook his head in denial, "Matt. What happened?" he asked, sitting up on the bed.

Peter cocked an eyebrow and eyed him for a moment before he crossed his legs and sat back on the chair. "Well, _Sylar_ , what happened is that Matt drank himself unconscious and you took over." He answered smugly.

Sylar frowned in a mix of frustration and confusion, "How? How do you always know?"

Peter huffed through his nose, "Wouldn't you like to know?" he smirked, watching as Sylar groaned and rubbed Matt's temple.

"Very fun plan, Matt's plan. Not worth the hangover, though." 

Peter wiggled his eyebrows once, opening his book again. "You got yourself into this mess." He said as he looked at the book, trying to find the page he'd been reading previously.

Sylar looked at him as he swung Matt's legs over the bed and landed them on the floor. "That dumb ass really thought that drinking himself until he was on the brink of passing out was a good plan." He contemplated.

Peter looked at him again, "Hey, he's Mohinder's dumb ass." he shrugged and looked back at the book. 

Sylar watched him with furrowed eyebrows for a moment before saying, "That would imply that one of us is a dumb ass, and you better hold your fucking horses if you're about to say I'm it." He pointed a finger at Peter.

"I'm not the one who's being babysat after getting myself into a major mess." Peter teased without looking up.

Sylar looked away, "Whatever."

*

Peter pushed the door open with his hip, "I bear gifts!" he said with a smile as he carried a tray with food inside.

"Peter?" Matt asked, watching as the lean man walked into the room and set the food in the bedside table.

Peter looked at him, "Oh, hey, Matt!" he greeted with a smile that could possibly light up his whole day were it not for the fact that he had a massive headache. "So! We have chicken soup, bread, orange juice, and I can bring you something for your headache, if you want." Peter said, pointing at everything in the tray as he spoke.

Matt nodded, "I'd like that." he affirmed and Peter exited the room, coming back shortly after with a bottle of ibuprofen pills. 

He set it on the bedside table, beside the tray, "Two should do the trick." 

Matt nodded once again, taking the pills, and, then, a sip of the juice. Peter sat down on the chair, which Matt now realized was beside his bed, taking a book from the bedside table and opening it. He read as Matt ate.

When Matt finished eating, he looked at Peter, "You know, you don't have to sit here and watch me."

Peter looked up through his overgrown bangs, "That hangover tells me otherwise." his eyes went back to the book.

After a moment, Matt spoke again, "How's Nathan?"

Peter took a deep breath, putting the book down. "He woke up almost a week ago. He's lucid, oriented, and coherent (through writing, at least) — he can't talk yet, though." He explained. "At the rate he's healing, he won't be able to in another two weeks, maybe more."

"Oh."

"Yeah..." Peter looked at his hands. "On the bright side, by the time he _can_ , we'll already have all the research we need to... Fix this." He hesitated on the last two words, reluctant to what they meant.

Matt watched as Peter's chest and shoulders rose and fell, slow but forceful and controlled. "You don't want to do it." He pointed out.

Peter shook his head, "It's not like that." he sighed. "I wish there was another way we could do this."

"How?" Matt asked, then, after a pause, said, "And why?"

"Demons aren't bad, that's just how they're programmed." Peter answered remorsefully.

"They do bad things—"

"Doesn't mean they're bad." Peter interrupted, receiving a look from the other man. Peter avoided Matt's gaze, "My family has also done bad things — some of them to him. I don't know how you feel about that, but I gave my family a second chance. It would be hypocritical of me to not give him one too."

*

"Me and Peter were doing some research earlier, we found some very good sources. I think we might have even stumbled upon an explanation as to what went wrong!" Mohinder said from the kitchen as he made lunch for him and Matt. The latter sitting by the dining table as he watched the Indian man roam about. 

After a few moments of silence, Mohinder turned to look at Matt, finding him to be absorbed in his thoughts. Matt looked up when he realized he was being watched, deciding to speak his mind before he was prompted. "I think Peter likes Sylar."

Mohinder seemed torn between laughing and rubbing his face. He leaned his body over the counter, still facing Matt. "I don't think he knows."

Matt furrowed his eyebrows, "How does he not know?"

"Because he's not willing to like him and does anyway." Mohinder made a half shrug, "It must be hard for him to realize it when he doesn't even allow himself to feel this way."

"So, you think he's in denial?"

"It's a possibility."

*

Sylar watched Peter as he moved around the kitchen. 

Peter looked at him through the corner of his eyes, fighting a smile when he realized he was being gazed at. "I'm that interesting, huh?" 

Sylar rested Matt's head on his hand, amusement stamped on his face. "Oh, yeah. The view is amazing." He said nonchalantly, smiling when he realized Peter was blushing behind his bangs.

After a few moments of silence in which Sylar continued to watch Peter roam around the kitchen passed, Sylar spoke up. "Why are you doing this?"

Peter looked at him, making a face, "Well, we gotta eat _something_."

Sylar shook his head, "That's not what I mean." Peter gave him a quizzical look. "Trying to trap me."

Peter cocked an eyebrow, "Do you want a list?"

Sylar laughed through Matt's nose, "No," he smiled, looking down at the floor. "But, the list, it's just morals. It's not necessarily what you want." Sylar said, watching as Peter's breath caught in his throat.

Peter cast his head down, avoiding the demon's gaze — he had to remind himself of what Sylar was. "You don't know what I want."

Sylar sat Matt's body back on the chair, taking his head off his hand. "It's true, I don't." He crossed one leg over the other and his arm's over his chest — a gesture that, he believed, would be infinitely sexier if he was wearing his own body. 

"Yeah, you don't." Peter reaffirmed with the slightest pout showing on his face as he went back to making dinner.

"Do you, though?"

Peter froze. Sylar smiled, knowing he'd achieved his goal when Peter shook his head and resumed cooking wordlessly.

*

Peter woke up sweating, his body temperature high — not high enough to be a fever, but high enough to be bothersome — he looked around the apartment, realizing he was once again sleeping in Mohinder's couch. He laid there, trying to even out his breathing.

Then, he remembered his dream. One he was almost certain he shouldn't be having at all. "Fuck..." Peter cursed under his breath, brushing his hair off his sweaty forehead — he couldn't even catch a break in his sleep.

*

"Hey," Peter called, looking up from what he was doing momentarily, "So, I've been over the plans with Nathan over the last few days," he started. Mohinder looked at him, mirroring his gesture, "And the doctor said he'll be able to talk again soon."

Mohinder nodded, "That's a good thing."

"It is." 

"I got the feeling you have a 'but' coming there." Mohinder said, chuckling.

Peter shook his head, "No 'but's. Everything seems to be going like we want to." he didn't look at the other as the said it.

Mohinder the nurse as he concentrated — almost worried — on cutting carrots. "There's a 'but'." He stated. Peter refrained from looking at him. "If you wish to tell me, you can. I'll try to be understanding."

Peter took a deep breath, raising his shoulders slightly. "I don't know, I just—it seems unfair. To trap him." He shrugged and shook his head, still facing downwards. "It's not what it's supposed to happen. That's why we can hardly find anything about it in books. The protocol is to send demons back to their realms. What we're doing is going wrong."

Mohinder nodded, "Have you told your brother?"

"Yeah. He doesn't listen." Peter exhaled through his nose, "'You're too naïve, Peter', 'wake up', 'stop living in wonderland' — the regular speech. You know how it goes."

Mohinder braced his hands on the counter, looking at the other man firmly. "You shouldn't let him talk about you that way." Peter lifted his head, turning it to look at Mohinder. "Your opinion is completely valid and you have a good argument to support it. He has no reason to brush you off and he shouldn't be." Peter stared at him silently, taken aback by the geneticist calling out his brother's behavior and defending him — Nathan being called out was a common thing, but him being defended? Completely unheard of. "Don't allow it. Stand up for yourself."

*

Peter had been quiet since arriving, Mohinder realized. He'd barely said anything outside what was strictly necessary and had his head cast down half the time, a thoughtful expression plaguing his face. When he'd talked to Matt and Sylar, he hardly put on a smile (and that in on itself was concerning regarding Peter Petrelli) and told one or two unenthusiastic jokes before handing them the bag of books he'd brought so they'd have more entertainment. After that, he'd sat on the couch beside Mohinder, reading yet another book on summoning as they watched Sylatt (as they'd kindly taken to calling them) through the baby-cam — which the other two had yet to realize they'd set up.

Mohinder closed his book and turned to Peter. He, after a few moments, realized and turned too (his book still open in his hands), mirroring Mohinder's gesture. 

"Mohinder." He said, in a dramatic tone.

"Peter," Mohinder repeated the same tone.

Peter breathed in, "What's wrong?"

"That's what I was about to ask you, actually." Mohinder answered, receiving a questioning and off-put look from the other man. "You hardly smiled today."

Peter raised an eyebrow, laughing awkwardly, "That happens to everyone, since when is that reason for concern?"

"Well, yes, it does happen to most people," Mohinder conceded, "But you're... You."

Peter looked down at himself, then back at Mohinder. "At least I hope so."

Mohinder chuckled, "What I mean to say is that it's not as frequent an event with you as it is with other people."

"Well, the world isn't sunshine and rainbows," Peter shrugged, his words slurring slightly. Mohinder asked himself if he was seeing clearly or if Peter was really _pouting_.

"It isn't," Mohinder looked down at his hands, huffing a laugh through his nose when he remembered something. "You know, it's actually funny, because Matt told me once that, of all the minds he's seen, yours looks like it's made out of sunshine." Peter furrowed his eyebrows, breath catching on his throat. He opened and closed his mouth in search of something to say, "Peter," Mohinder put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to shut his mouth. "What could've possibly have killed your sunshine?"

Peter finally began breathing again, labored and slow. He shrugged, "I had a discussion with Nathan, it's not a big deal."

[Can you hear Mohinder thinking about all the ways he wants to kill Nathan?]

Mohinder took a deep breath, "What happened?"

Peter shrugged, "I told him what I thought about trapping Sylar, and he started saying the kind of stuff he always does. So I told him to at least consider what I had to say and... Uh, well, at least we know that his vocal chords are fully healed and functional." He shrugged once again, trying to downplay the interaction.

"What did he say?"

The empathetic man (Mohinder knew that summoning creatures from the abysses of realms, foreseeing the future on cards, and looking into other people's minds wasn't Peter's true power — the strongest feature of his) shook his head and insisted, "It's not important, don't worry about it." 

"Peter," Mohinder said sternly, "It clearly is important and you can tell me what happened."

Peter sighed, "I— he just... he started speaking in this weird tone — he wasn't screaming or anything — but it sounded kind of like when you're talking to a disobedient child," he carded a hand through his hair, "I've never seen him take that tone before. Not when I was a kid... not even with his sons." Peter looked down, taking another labored breath. "And he didn't say anything different from the usual, either. It's just... it's really silly of me to be sad about this."

Mohinder shook his head, "No. No, it's not silly, Peter. You have every right to be upset when somebody treats you that way." Peter shrugged, "Well, what did you say?"

Peter looked down at his hands, still holding the book, seeming to be disappointed in himself. "I didn't. I... He just kept on talking and I couldn't say anything. So, when he stopped, I just said 'okay' and left."

Mohinder blinked, "What you're saying is that he didn't let you talk?"

Peter's head shot up, "No! It's not like that. He just had a lot to say."

"Did he hear you when you spoke?" Peter shut his mouth. Mohinder scoffed, "You know, I always thought it was you who allowed it or simply didn't defend yourself. But he's not letting you." he said with shock stamped on his expression.

"It's really not like that." Peter insisted.

Mohinder watched him for a few seconds, thinking of what to say in such a situation. "Peter," he said through a sigh, "It _is_ like that." He put both of his hands on Peter's shoulders, making him face him. "You're so used to your family doing things much worse — some of them to you — that, I think, you forget how much that's not alright." He furrowed his eyebrows, contemplating the seriousness of what he was saying. "You're upset because what your brother did was upsetting — not because you're silly. Do you understand?" He asked. Peter pursed his lips and nodded.

*

Mohinder knocked on the door of a house he'd been at once upon three years ago. He smiled when Angela Petrelli answered the door, saying how nice it was to see him. "I need to speak to Nathan, is he here? Peter told me he would." She smiled and led him to a room in another floor. After showing him the room, Angela left. Mohinder walked up to the door, knocking and smiling when the Politician opened the door.

"Suresh?" Nathan said with a confused expression. "Was I expecting you?"

"No," Mohinder shook his head, maintaining the smile. "It's great to see that you're speaking already."

"Uh, yeah, I healed pretty quick." Nathan said nonchalantly, looking around.

"Can I come in? I would like to speak to you for a moment."

"Sure," Nathan moved out of the way and closed the door when Mohinder entered the room. "What'd you wanna talk about?"

"Did Peter come the other day to talk about the plan?" Nathan nodded, "He mentioned to me that you had a disagreement..." Mohinder prompted.

Nathan cocked an eyebrow, "He told you about that?"

"Yes, and I would like to know what you thought of his opinion." Mohinder crossed his arms over his chest.

Nathan scoffed, "I think it's ridiculous!" he laughed. 

Mohinder furrowed his eyebrows, his forehead creasing. "Why do you think that?"

"Well, he wants to let that demon go..."

Mohinder lifted his hand, stopping Nathan, and shook his head. "Peter doesn't want to let Sylar go. He wants to do as it's protocol — to send him back to his realm instead of trying to trap him again, which has yet to go right." He corrected, grimacing. "Did you even listen to what he had to say?"

"You mean, listen to my brother trying to tell me that 'demons aren't bad because they do bad things', and that 'people deserve a second chance', and 'even if they don't, cruelty isn't a fair punishment'." Nathan mocked.

"Yes, exactly." Nathan furrowed his eyebrows, watching Mohinder as if trying to figure out whether he was joking or not. "Nathan, I know that you and your brother's opinions tend to diverge, but you cannot simply brush him aside and refuse to listen to him — especially not in this matter."

"'In this matter', do you seriously want me to listen to my brother's vision the world made of unicorns and rainbows when it comes to something as serious as this?" Nathan scoffed.

"Yes," Mohinder responded, Nathan opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by him. "You may be one of the best summoners of our generation, but it would be wise of you to remember that Peter isn't that far behind you and that he isn't only a summoner, he's also a medium and a great one." He said, coming closer to Nathan, until he was in his face. "He has a point."

"It's not good enough to have a point, he doesn't have a solution." Nathan said, raising his voice, then, lowering it when he remembered he shouldn't scream.

"Neither do you." Mohinder said calmly. "Your plan went wrong — terribly so. You may have a better plan now, but it is in no way better than what he's suggesting." Mohinder took a deep breath and took a few steps back, toward the door. "Remember, also, that the only way *any* plan is getting done is if we have Peter — he's the only one who can take Sylar off Matt's mind and back into materialization." He warned, looking into Nathan's eyes — he knew he'd finally got to him. "It's about time you start showing respect for him."

*

As Peter left the apartment, Sylar watched Mohinder with amusement. The door closed and the geneticist lingered on his spot, facing his hands with his mind drowning in thoughts. "What are you hiding?" He asked. Mohinder's head shot up in his direction and Sylar saw a hint of acknowledgement in his eyes.

"Hiding?" Mohinder repeated with a cocked eyebrow.

"Hiding. From Peter." The demon continued, pointing at the door with his eyes. He looked at Mohinder again and paused, "Hm, no. Not 'hiding' — you're holding back." He stated, snapping his fingers when he figured it out. "What is it?"

Mohinder seemed taken aback by the affirmation. He opened and closed his mouth, at a loss of words, before he finally recomposed himself. He sighed, "I confronted Nathan about a discussion they'd had."

It was Sylar's turn to cock an eyebrow, "I'm failing to see where you stand between a disagreement of theirs."

Mohinder shook his head, "It wasn't the disagreement that bothered me." he looked up at Sylar to see he had an expression that said _proceed_. "Their disagreement upset Peter because of the way Nathan was treating him."

Sylar sat back, looking unimpressed. Upon Mohinder's quizzical gaze, he said, "Nathan treats him bad all the time, that's not a surprise." Mohinder huffed at that. "The whole clan does it, it's not even subtle. How did you not see it?" He paused, "Matt saw it!" He pointed out.

Mohinder looked at him with a hint of curiosity, "Matt is listening in?"

"It's my body," he said in a different tone, pointing at his own body as he took a more defensive pose. Mohinder arched his brows, he'd always assumed the reason why Peter knew who was speaking was because of his mediunic abilities, but, now that he'd payed attention, he realized that there was a change in their posture — Matt's was a little more hunched and forward whilst Sylar's was squared and calculated — as well as a slight difference to their voice.

He sighed, sitting back on the chair. "Matt wants to make sure that I play nice — can't have me biting the other kids, now, can he?" Sylar said mockingly.

Mohinder took a deep breath, nodding. "Well, the point is that I hadn't payed attention to the Petrelli' mistreatment of Peter." Mohinder told in a citing tone, "To be quite honest, I've always thought they were very affectionate — Nathan and Peter."

Sylar looked at him like he was being ridiculous, "You can be affectionate _and_ abusive." He stopped, nodding his head, " _And_ they're itallian, good point." He said as if he was talking to himself — or to Matt, as Mohinder assumed. 

Mohinder rolled his eyes, "Oh, yes, I almost forgot their 'italian-ness'." He mocked.

Sylar crossed Matt's legs, looking at Mohinder straight in the eyes. "Google his name if you need a clue."

Mohinder made a face, "On Google?"

Sylar rolled Matt's eyes, huffing with seeming annoyance. "Ugh, humans are so stupid and lazy. You guys can't get anything by yourselves, can you?!" He barely waited two seconds before he went, "Aside from the normal Petrelli drama, you'll find a few news articles about how, when one Nathan Petrelli was running for Congress, he used an alleged suicide attempt of Peter's to try and favor his campaign." He stopped, cocking his head to the side, " _And_ a lot of speculation on why Peter left-slash-ran-away from home at seventeen." Sylar finished.

His posture shifted as he took his hand upward to scratch his chin. "When he was taken in, in Odessa, I saw on his file a report on him being found sleeping on a park at seventeen — definitely ran away." Matt said.

Mohinder looked down in thought, rubbing his hands together anxiously. "How did I not realize it sooner?"

Matt looked at him with compassion, "It's probably not that obvious for someone who isn't familiar with that. Don't beat yourself over it, Mo."

*

Just before Peter started to collapse, Mohinder realized that the spell had gone wrong once again. He moved to try and catch him as Peter's knees hit the ground, but was held in place by Nathan. Peter fell, his belly facing the ground and his forehead hitting the floor with louder a thud than he'd expected.

Mohinder turned to face the man whom was holding him, "What...?" 

Nathan pointed to the ground where Peter lay, "He's _in_ the circle, if you get in you'll get stuck too." he explained.

Mohinder turned to him fully, taking Nathan's hands of himself. "Then _break the circle_!"

"If I break the circle, that demon escapes."

"If we don't, your brother is stuck there!" Mohinder countered, " _Where_ is he stuck, by the way?" He asked, only to be greeted by silence. "Why did you change the spell, Nathan?!"

"It was a necessary risk!"

"'A necessary risk', oh, please!" Mohinder cursed. He looked behind himself to see that Matt was starting to stir awake and kneeled down to help him up. Mohinder turned around to Angela, whom stood behind them, watching everything. "Do you have nothing to say about this, Angela?"

She sighed, "I have plenty to say, but I'm afraid that now is not the right time." Mohinder had to fight himself not to roll his eyes at her crypticness.

Mohinder looked at Nathan once again, "Why did you do it? How was it 'a necessary risk'?" he asked. Turning to Matt once again and helping him sit up grogily as the cop asked him what was happening and he answered shortly. 

"He did what?" Matt asked, still not fully awake, looking between Mohinder and Nathan confusedly.

"Yeah..." Mohinder confirmed bitterly. He took a deep breath and turned back to Nathan now that he was certain that Matt was okay. "I understood the discussions, but _this_?" He stood up and pointed at where Peter lay unconscious on the floor. "Has your brother ever done something to you or do you simply just hate him that much?!"

Nathan took a deep breath, seeming to be taken aback by the accusations. "... I don't hate Peter!"

Mohinder scoffed, "Really? Then, I suppose I'm going insane because I could've sworn you'd just trapped a demon in their worst nightmare and your brother _with_ him?"

"Wait, he did what?!" Matt said loudly, looking at Mohinder for confirmation that he had, indeed, not imagined what he said.

"Just what you heard, and he better be ready to tell us how to undo his screw up about right now." Mohinder crossed his arms. After a moment of silence and no answer from Nathan (whom stood there nervously), Mohinder uncrossed his arms and let his expression shift to one of shock. "You don't know how."

And then chaos ensued.

*

"It's been an hour since we removed the circle and none of them are waking up." Mohinder said, looking at Nathan. 

Nathan sighed and crossed his arms, "I didn't know this would happen."

Mohinder shared a look with Matt and walked towards Nathan, mirroring his body image. "Yes, and that's what made it risky to go with your plan. Despite the risk, you insisted we go along — and then proceeded to change the spell without consulting anyone." 

"And I know now that I shouldn't have done it." Nathan answered calculatedly.

Mohinder rolled his eyes and turned his back on Nathan, facing Matt once again. "You told me once that time passes differently in the mind."

Matt nodded, "Yes, but I'm not sure how quickly it's passing for them — an hour could be a day or even a decade — there's no way to tell."

"A decade?" Mohinder repeated flabbergasted. Matt nodded in confirmation, "They've been in there for three and a half hours!"

Matt put a hand on Mohinder's forearm to calm him, "Yeah. And I can't even try to get inside to pull them out 'cause I don't know if Nathan's spell will get me sucked in too."

Mohinder took a breath and sat down on the couch. "I can't even fathom the horrors they must be facing."

Nathan scoffed, "Not 'they'. Peter." Nathan corrected and Mohinder looked at him questioningly. "Sylar deserves to be there. He's a monster."

Mohinder laughed cynically, "At this point, so are you." He shook his head, "No one deserves to be trapped in their worst nightmare, not Peter nor Sylar. To be quite honest, if he gets out and decides to be good or to murder you, he'd have my total support."

*

Peter stirred as he slowly came to. The first thing he realized was that his head was resting against something soft — a pillow — and the second was that the rest of his body wasn't. He rolled on his side and put a hand on the surface under him as he opened his eyes. 

"They're waking up." Peter heard a voice from afar but couldn't distinguish the words. He was lying on the floor of Mohinder's apartment and Sylar — who was lying close to him — was also beginning to stir awake, albeit slower.

"Peter," Another voice called. He looked at the kitchen area to see his brother looking at him with worry. Peter wondered why Nathan would be worried, trying to recall what had happened last.

He felt a hand on his arm and looked to the side to see Sylar, "Peter." he said adjust as of it was a question all on its own. 

It came back to him.

Peter's head whipped in Nathan's direction and he moved to stand up. In a second there were Sylar and Mohinder both at each side of him, looking at him uncertainly. "I'm fine." He whispered to them and the two slowly have him more space. Peter shifted his attention back to Nathan, who stood on the same spot he did before nervously. "You changed the spell."

Nathan took a breath, moving slowly as to not startled Peter — as if he was a wild and untamed animal. "Peter, you have to understand that—"

"No." Peter interrupted, his voice firm. "I don't have to understand. All I do is understand — I'm done understanding!" He complained, trying to keep the betrayal and humiliation from seeping into his voice. "You are the one who needs to understand."

"You're right." Nathan conceded, "I—"

Peter rolled his eyes, "No, I don't want to hear you right now!" he turned to look at Mohinder and took a deep breath before asking, "How long has it been?"

"About five and a half hours." Peter looked over to the couch to see that Matt was also there.

"Five hours?" He repeated in shock, looking at Sylar.

"It felt like years." Sylar completed and Peter nodded. 

Peter looked down, hugging himself (Sylar had to refrain from putting a comforting hand on Peter's shoulders or arms, something that he was now used to doing but was conscious that the others weren't). "It *was* a dream." He mumbled, still facing down.

"Does it make it any less real?" Sylar asked in a low tone.

"It was real to us."

*

"Peter," Mohinder called and Peter looked at him with the slightest flinch of surprise. Mohinder handed the plate of food he'd been holding to Peter and sat down beside the man on the couch. "How are you?"

Peter shrugged, "I could definitely be worse."

Mohinder nodded, "It must've been awful."

Peter grimaced and scratched his chin, "I mean, yeah, but it's also not what you think." he sighed. Peter looked at his plate when he realized he was being watched by Mohinder. "There wasn't torture or anything like that. We were just... Alone. It took us a week to find each other." He took a bite of his food and continued talking after swallowing everything. "We fought a lot in the beginning... It was nasty. Eventually we learned to actually get along, but it was hard."

***

_"You know, you're the closest thing there is to a midterm."_

_"A midterm?"_

_"Yes. A medium." Sylar stated, proceeding at the questioning look Peter gave him. "In your world, mediums are clairvoyants, mind-readers, etcetera. But a true medium is someone who is a quote-unquote 'medium' and also a summoner."_

_"Why?" Peter asked, eyeing the demon curiously._

_"Because, viewing people from your world as a light force and mine as a dark one, someone like you is a medium. You can summon both demons and humans."_

_Peter laughed, "I can't summon humans."_

_"Yes, you can." Sylar insisted and scoffed, "What do you think the difference is between planting a thought on someone's head and ordering a demon to do your bidding?" He questioned._

_After a moment, Peter nodded, then laughed. "I think I remember Nathan saying this one time when I was a kid 'the dark comes when I say'." He recalled, "I thought he wanted to play Batman or something... He didn't enjoy me not taking him seriously very much."_

_"That's a good description — you call both light and dark and they answer you."_

***

"Hey, Mohinder." Peter said after a few moments. He looked up, "Thanks. You, for defending me and telling me to defend myself."

Mohinder blinked, taken aback. "Oh, you're welcome, Peter." He said, watching as Peter smiled. "Why are you telling me this now?"

Peter took a deep, slow breath before answering, "In the nightmare world, with Sylar as my only company, I kinda had to face some hard truths." Mohinder nodded. "So, thanks, for everything."

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna make it clear that I love Nathan, he's a very complex character and, in a way, one of my faves in the series. But I also kinda hate him a lot for his fuck-ups and really wish they were called out more in the show instead of ignored as soon as he died.  
> That all said, I hope y'all enjoyed my little AU and, if you did, be sure to leave a kudo/comment/bookmark because I freaking love them!


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